After a week when a friend of mine in the UK had his wrought iron gate stolen – on contacting the police he was asked if he needed counselling to which he replied “No, I bloody well don’t ! All I want is my garden gate back!” – Real Mallorca players can hold their heads high despite going down to the only goal in a 1-0 defeat against a rampant Barcelona in the Olympic stadium on Tuesday night.
All La Liga games have been played during this week because the “Clasico” Copa del Rey final is being played tomorrow night (Saturday 26th) at 10pm in Sevilla between Barcelona and Real Madrid. It’s hard to believe we were in the final just over a year ago. How time flies!
As expected, Barcelona ran Mallorca ragged for most of the game. They kept wearing us down and in the end the Mallorca players were exhausted chasing shadows. Barcelona put our goal under siege for long periods, hitting shots that were either intercepted by the defence or saved by an inspired goalkeeping display from second choice Leo Roman; the post also played a role to keep the home team from scoring.
Mallorca were seriously affected by six absentees, all of whom would have been automatic starters against a team going for the treble (La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League). But there was only one player who took all the plaudits on Tuesday night, our 24-year-old Ibizan-born goalkeeper Leo Roman. Making only his fifth start this season, he was inspirational, saving a barrage of shots until he was beaten by Dani Olmo’s goal just after half time. Leo got his revenge for the 1-5 defeat Barcelona inflicted on us in Palma back in December!
At the start of the season, coach Arrasate alternated goalkeepers with Dominik Greif playing one game and Roman the next. The coach finally opted for Greif and Leo was almost ostracised. He had a nightmare cup game when we lost away at Pontevedra and never made another start. Now, after Tuesday night’s performance, clubs will be buzzing around Leo Roman’s agent like bees on a honeypot. After the game, Leo didn’t hold back on his position at the club, commenting “My situation isn’t what it should be, due to the club’s management.” He demanded more prominence after not playing in La Liga since December 3.
And now what? Does Dominik Greif return for the away game at free-falling Girona a week on Monday (May 5 at 9pm)? It’s clear we have two high-level goalkeepers (we had three when Rajkovic was here) and either one could be a starter but what Leo did at Barcelona was simply “out of this world.” Although Greif and Roman are the best of friends off the pitch, they are not willing to cohabit on it next season. It’s now up to our director of football Pablo Ortells and coach Jagoba Arrasate to work out which one stays and who is allowed to leave. Greif has had a contract extension on the table for months but he (or his agent) doesn’t think the deal offered is lucrative enough. The Slovakian international has a contract in place until June next year and the club have allegedly turned down a bid of around six million euros from an unknown suitor.
Leo Roman had a blinding campaign on loan to second division side Oviedo last season and was their player of the year. During his spell in Asturias, Roman had several offers from La Liga sides and one from Italian Seria A Club Genoa. This time with Roman languishing on the bench, several offers have again been tendered for his services but Mallorca have slapped on a “Hands Off” warning on him. Roman quite correctly wants to be a starter from next season as he continues to negotiate his future, however his renewal ambitions are at a standstill and complicated. After Tuesday night’s performance there are going to be many teams waiting to see what Roman does. Mallorca’s proposal doesn’t pull up any trees for the young Ibizan’s expectations and Ortells must sort out the conundrum between Dominik or Leo. It’s mission impossible to have two goalkeepers of the highest calibre fighting to take top spot. Greif has openly admitted that at 28 years of age he needs to play as much as possible as does Roman at 24. Both of these top goalkeepers’ futures at Real Malorca are in the air – and the ball is in sporting director Pablo Ortells’ court. Watch this space!
As if the club’s treatment table in Son Bibiloni wasn’t overflowing enough at the moment, it was announced on Wednesday that “local hero” Abdon Prats has torn a calf muscle and his season, with only five games left to play, looks to be over, though he was only on the pitch for a few minutes at the end.
PS On Tuesday night Barcelona equalled the La Liga record with 40 shots, 12 on target all saved by Leo Roman, who had the highest amount of saves in a single La Liga match this season.
AND FINALLY, with talk in the UK of the army being sent in to tackle Birmingham’s growing rubbish mountains, Hollywood announced a new slate of accompanying war movies, including The Bin Red Line, All Clear on the Wastern Front, Black Bag Down, Ratoon and Full Donkey Jacket.